The Way, Way Back Review

For about half the runtime of The Way Way Back I didn't care about the main character Duncan, played by Liam James. But then I realized something. He's supposed to be a passive character. The movie is about his journey from being passive to being active in his own life. After making that realization, and once the plot picked up I got into the movie and I'm pleased to say that The Way, Way Back has become one of my favorite movies of the year.

The Way, Way Back doesn't have much in the way of a plot exactly. It opens with Duncan and his mother Pam (Toni Collette) going to a summer house with Trent (Steve Carell) and his daughter Steph (Zoe Levin). What follows is Liam's attempt to survive the summer even though he hates Trent and doesn't really fit in with anyone in the small town. In most movies, a lack of a straightforward plot would be a hindrance, but co-writers/directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash pull it off by making it about the characters. If you've ever felt like everyone around you is having fun either without you or at your expense, you'll immediately relate to Duncan. Faxon and Rash just keep piling frustrations on Duncan and Liam James plays the frustrated detachment perfectly. It always looks like he doesn't want to be wherever he happens to be trapped.

Sam Rockwell is the best part of The Way, Way Back. His character, Owen, is introduced about fifteen minutes in and by that point all the adults have been aggressively oppressive toward Duncan. When Owen gives the smallest bit of attention to Duncan he immediately becomes the most likable character in the movie. This has a lot to do with how well written all the characters are. Since everyone before has been extremely unlikable Owen sticks out. But most of Owen's likability comes from how amazing Sam Rockwell is as an actor. He has the ability to be incredibly endearing while still being a character that is kind of falling apart and has his own journey to go through.

As likable as Sam Rockwell as Owen is, Steve Carell as Trent is hatable. It's interesting to see Carell play a character this mean since he's usually typecast as the lovable loser. The easiest way to describe Trent is just mean. He belittles Duncan, he's a jerk to his girlfriend, Pam, and his biggest sin is being a passive-aggressive jerk. It's just frustrating to watch him have a conversation with Duncan. It's a testament to the writing that someone who has always been as affable as Carell be such a jerk. I believe this is the first time he's played the outright villain of a movie and he plays it fantastically.

I've mentioned it in passing throughout this review, but it really needs to be said outright that Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's script for The Way, Way Back is amazing. The wide range of emotion the movie has is staggering; I think I went through every major emotion watching it. What sets The Way, Way Back apart from so many other movies is how real the characters feel. Everyone in the water park where Owen gives Duncan a job is so enjoyable. By the end of the movie I didn't want to leave these characters. Like Duncan, I had grown attached to them. The mark of a great movie is that you want to live in the world created and The Way, Way Back absolutely does that with the water park. What's fun is that it also makes you want to not be where Trent is making the scenes at the water park and with Owen that much more enjoyable which makes you relate to Duncan even more. If there's any complaint to be made, it's that they rely a little heavily on "coming of age" tropes, but for the most part they are tweaked just enough to not be cliche.

I was surprised by the amount of emotion in The Way, Way Back and how much it drew me in. It may very well be my favorite movie of the year so far. I walked out of the theater with that rare feeling that I had seen something very special. I said it before but it bears repeating, I wanted to spend more time with these characters. If the goal of a writer is to leave an audience wanting more, then Nat Faxon and Jim Rash have accomplished their goal in the best way.